Article by Tim Hague, our Italian product Manager (UEFA B licence)
Having lived and coached in Italy for 3 years at the time (I have now lived in Padova for 7 years) I was delighted to receive an invitation to spend a day in Bergamo as guest of Atalanta football club. Whoever you talk to in Italy about youth football development, Atalanta and the famous but ordinary training complex at Zingonia have a reputation and tradition that is envied even by the Italian 'giants' in Rome, Milan and Turin.
Like many other clubs however they cannot compete finanacially with the big 5, Maurizio Ganz remains the club's highest transfer acquisition at £2 million, and therefore a greater emphasis has to be placed on youth development. Whilst always having strong teams 'through the ages' the first team have also had an excellent season in Serie A this year (although presently back down in Serie "B") with notable contributions from Donati, Bellini, Zauri, the Zenoni brothers, Lorenzi, Natali, Pinardi, Rossini and Rustico all recent graduates from 'Il Settore Giovanile', the name given to Italian youth Academies.
The secret of this success?
Experience, continuity and stability amongst the coaching staff is certainly a contributory factor. Current manager Giovanni Vavassori played at the top level in Italy (many Italian coaches haven't) and he worked for 10 years within the Youth Academy and subsequently nurtured some of the young stars who are the shape of today's squad. Importantly he also retains a very keen interest in Atalanta's ongoing youth programme and I'm told that he knows all 190 players by name!
Facilities
Zingonia is where all the teams train. The 2 best pitches are reserved for first team training sessions but are also available to the other teams on respective matchdays. It was a great inspiration for the kids to be working alongside their idols, many of whom were in the same position as themselves some 5, 6, 7 years ago. In addition to the above there are 2 other full size grass pitches, 2 smaller, 60 x 40, sand pitches and other adaptable grass areas with portable goals. The changing area is relatively small with a weights room
There are no refreshment/restaurant facilities on site and there are 2 viewing areas open to the public. During my visit the sun shone all day, that's not always the case in Northern Italy, but the climate is generally much better than the UK and it is interesting to note that there was no indoor facility to use in case of adverse weather conditions. In drawing a comparison between ourselves and the Italians, the climate does realistically play a big part and I observed a session for 45 minutes that was a little monotonous and repetitive and would not have been possible or acceptable to both coach and player in driving rain on a Tuesday evening in Sheffield!!!
Another couple of interesting points can be taken from this -
Most children finish school around 1.30 which enables afternoon sessions to commence from 3 o'clock. At Atalanta and probably at every other club all coaching is finished by 6 pm at the latest. No evening coaching.
Different mentality. This has been mentioned before with reference to Italian and other European countries. The 45 minutes was a little tedious. The same drill with little or no progression as the coach worked on turning and creating space in attack in a phase of play. On the basis that the move might only need to be successful just once in a game situation the players perservered and showed an extraordinary determination to learn and help each other.
Practice and teamwork even at 14 was the message conveyed by the coach and accepted 100% by the players. At the begining of each session I noticed most youth team players practising a variety of individual ball skills without being told to do so!!
Players and Staff
The structure of teams is familiar to all Italian professional clubs. Two year age groupings with qualifying dates of birth from January the 1st like most other European countries. The same criteria applies to tournament play and is therefore open to boys born on Jan 1 in any given year. As a result our Academy teams wishing to compete in Italian tournaments may be at a disadvantage by either having to split and combine two year group teams or play boys who could be up to 18 months younger than their Italian opposition.
- 6-8 years old 'Primi Calcio'
- 8-10 'Pulcini'
- 10-12 'Esordienti'
- 12-14 'Giovanissimi'
- 14-16 'Allievi'
From age 16 the fringe players play in the 'Berretti' squad whilst those considered good enough join the 'Primavera' (Reserves) on the assumption that after another couple of years experience they should be ready to compete for a first team place. There are no formal contracts signed until players are ready to graduate from the Allievi at 16.
Of the 190 players currently in the Academy all but 25 come from within the cachement area of Lombardy which would include the cities of Milan, Bergamo, Cremonese and Como. The remainder are from other parts of Italy. There seems to be no problem with travelling time and distance restrictions, and boys stay in family housing and attend local schools. The youngest is 14. For these players and for those who live within a 20 mile radius who don't have transport, the club provide a minibus shuttle service.
The age groups between 6-12 have two 2 hour sessions a week whilst the other groups up to 16 have three. Competitive games are split, some Saturday some Sunday. I spent a lot of time with one of the 4 full time coaches and I was interested to hear his comments about tournament play. It is considered a very important part of the learning and developing process and therefore taken very seriously. These tournaments could last anything between 2/3 days and a week and from my personal experience this year are extremely well organised. In terms of participation the ideal scenario for each team would be up to 2 tournaments pre-season, 2 mid season and up to 5 between mid May and the end of June. Also, in July, summer soccer camps are offered in a variety of locations scouting for new talent.
Apart from the full time staff each team has it's own coach and there are 2 full time fitness trainers dedicated to the Youth Academy.
A lot of stretching, aerobic/anaerobic exercises and a variety of rhythmic style movements form part of the programme.
Coaching
With the introduction of UEFA coaching qualifications the idea is to streamline and offer the portability to use these in all parts of Europe. However, the Italians still have their own system and the better the qualification the higher level you can coach at. Only those holding the 'Prima Categoria' can coach in Serie A, recent exceptions apart, and if a successful coach takes his team from Serie B to A and he doesn't have the qualification he must fast track before the start of the following season or he is not considered suitably qualified and is unable to give instructions to his team on matchdays. Could that be the way forward?
and food for thought....
An interesting statistic that emerged from the Italian Serie A in 2001 was the effect of the number of goals scored in the last 3 minutes of a game.
In fact 72 out of 806 goals, 8.9%, were scored from the 87th minute and whilst some teams were rejoicing others were left to reflect on what might have been. Amazingly then, 1 goal in every 11 scored, were scored from the 87th minute.......
Without these late 'strikes', Inter, for example, would have won 'Lo Scudetto' by 4 points and guaranteed an automatic Champions League place instead of having to go through the qualification process as a result of actually finishing third behind Juventus & Roma.
But it was Verona who perhaps suffered the most. If all games had finished after 87 minutes they would have secured a comfortable mid table position on the fringe of a UEFA Cup place. In reality they found themselves in Serie B travelling to Livorno, Messina and Cosenza instead of visits to the San Siro and Stadio Olimpico!!
The motto of this story and surely sound advice for all teams and players alike whether playing in the Scudeto; on a Sunday morning in England; or during a tour match overseas is: "Play until the final whistle"!! You have been warned!
Tim lives in Padova, Italy and now manages our programme of football (and other sports) tours and tournaments in Italy. These include high quality invitational tournaments for youth teams at Professional clubs; and tours suitable for all ages and abilities.
